Since last semester, there has been much talk about the Purple Knight Baseball team. With a host of returning players and a well-rounded recruiting class, this season has had a lot of high hopes. After the snow stopped falling and Harbor Yard was finally playable, UB was finally able to get their first games under their belts. Sporting brand new jersey tops and an almost brand new starting lineup, UB was looking like a whole new program.
Opening day was on March 17 against old New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) rivals Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU). Senior pitcher Bobby Cot held the ball for the first pitch of the 2003 season. SCSU quickly got on top of the Purple Knights 3-0 in the first inning, and then put up another four runs in the top of the second. UB did not sit back and the young talented team answered back with six runs in the bottom of the second inning. Unfortunately that is all that was scored by UB and SCSU went on to score 13 runs in the game defeating UB 13-6. Freshman designated hitter Chris Cadrin reached base three times having two hits, one RBI, and scored one run in his debut at the Yard. Junior left fielder Chris Chung went 2 for 5 in his first game out.
In the second game of the year on March 19, Bridgeport took on Teikyo Post University. Senior pitcher J.R. Causa got his first start of the year as well as the first win of the year for the Purple Knights. Causa gave up one run on the day and won the game 2-1 with Freshman pitcher Jared Rohrig came in to close things out. Senior third baseman Adam Taraska went 1 for 3 with an RBI and sophomore second baseman Dennis Hine hit in the other run. This proved to be the first win of the year for UB and looked as if the young team was ready to take on anyone.
On March 24, UB played Northeast-10 rivals Stonehill College in a long awaited rematch from last season where UB lost 9-8 in the final inning. Graduate Student Ken Catino had his first start of the season and proved to be a leader on the mound. Stonehill drew first blood scoring one run in the first inning. Bridgeport came right back with three in the bottom of the inning and kept pouring it on throughout the game. They added two in the third, three in the fourth, and two more in the sixth leading Stonehill 10-6 going in to the top of the eight inning. Stonehill scored two more in the eighth to come within two of UB then scored two more in the ninth to tie the game at 10-10. UB failed to score in the bottom of the inning and the umpires called the game because of darkness. Junior center fielder Terrance Brown went 2 for 4 in the game scoring three runs. Junior first baseman Larry Abele went 3 for 5 with four RBI’s on the day. Chung also went 1 for 3 and scored twice for the Purple Knights.
The latest game for UB was against Caldwell College, however at press time the scores were unavailable. The next home game for the Purple Knights will be on Friday March 29 at 11 am, a double header, against conference rivals Adelphi University.